AVAILABLE TO RENT OR OWN ON VOD PLATFORMS IN NORTH AMERICA APRIL 1, 2025
By: Valerie Milano
Palm Springs, CA (The Hollywood Times) 2/10/2025 – Since the dawn of the entertainment age, the stage mother phenomenon has been part of the legacy of many child actors. They come in a variety of forms, with one of the most prevalent being the mother who tries to manage every moment of their child’s budding career.
These “manager moms” often go as far as to dictate every moment and activity of their child’s life, from where they go to school and how they learn their craft to what they do in their “free” time. You might say these are micro-manager moms. Names like Ethel Gumm, Dina Lohan and June Shannon are familiar to millions for their managing of their daughters – Judy Garland, Lindsay Lohan and Alana “Honey Boo-Boo” Thompson, respectively.
However, the exploits of these mom’s pale in comparison to Ronnie Lipstick, the fictional mom in filmmaker Natalie Bailey’s feature-length Australian dark comedy Audrey. The mother of two young girls, Ronnie (played by Jackie van Beek) fancies herself as a “Mother of the Year” type. She has big dreams for her daughter, Audrey (Josephine Blazier), but no real expectations for her other disabled daughter, Norah (Hannah Diviney).
Audrey wants nothing more than to be a regular teenager, while Norah aspires to be more than what her mother has in mind for her. When Audrey suffers an accident and falls into a deep coma, obsessed stage mother Jackie decides to keep her dreams for her daughter alive by assuming Audrey’s social media identity.
Throw in a sex-obsessed dad (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) who is prototypically hen-pecked, and what ensues is a sometimes tragic, sometimes disturbing but always funny story that takes the audience on a wild ride as this quite dysfunctional family struggles to keep it all together. Bailey, who is known for her TV series work in the United Kingdom, the US and Australia, joined The Hollywood Times to talk about her film while attending this week’s Palm Springs International Film Festival, where Audrey is screening ahead of its North American general release in March.
Click below for our exclusive interview:
Bailey, who directs the film and shares co-producer credits with writer Lou Sanz, who penned the film’s script, said the story was pitched to her by Sanz during a “speed dating event” for writers and producers.
“She pitched to me several ideas, most of them for TV, but this film really took my interest,” Bailey said in an exclusive interview, conducted as she was riding to the festival in an Uber. “I loved it. I loved Lou’s sense of humor, just as a person. I could tell she was going to be a great writer. She’s funny, which comes from being a sand-up comedian, so I was really excited about reading it.”
The film certainly reflects the “Australian sense of humor,” often characterized as dry, irreverent and ironic. Best exemplified by some of the works of performing artists like Barry Humphries and Paul Hogan, and by character creations such as mock-talk-show hosts Norman Gunston (Garry McDonald) and Roy and HG (John Doyle and Greig Pickhaver.
Bailey said that so far, American audiences have responded favorably. Audrey premiered last March at the SXSW Film Festival, and Bailey said her film, “Totally fits into that American Indie cinema bracket. I feel like audiences have responded well to it.”
As for the brilliant cast, Bailey said she had not worked with van Beek and Taylor prior to making this film.
